I may be a bit biased because I am a fan of the "memoir movement".I realize not everyone is into this kind of thing and that's cool. I also think that memoirs are the truest form of literary art due to the fact that the author is not going through any other means. I love fiction, but the author is essentially expressing his or herself through another character. In this book, however, the author lays himself out in perfect honesty. I have true respect for this book and its author.

jackie(01/01/05)

yes yes i have heard it all this book is the newist thing, the memoir is the new writting device for our generation. the problem i had with this book, besides the woe is me, was it slips into the mtv generation:great style no content. the best part of the book was the picture of the stapler, it just went down hill form there. if you enjoy watching mtv, and you are part of the 'me' generation then you will love this book. so david foster wallace enjoyed the book, so what, i know many people who have enjoyed this book; i also know many people who enjoy the crap mtv feeds them. just turn it off, just stop reading this book or read it i don't care. if life models art, then this book has doomed us, be a sad hedonist and read some of this book then just put it down after the stapler part and forget the rest,,,

Lizzayyyyy(10/25/04)

hilarious, awesome read. touching.

Sarah(10/02/04)

I was forced to read the book in my freshman college writing class, but was very surprised at the depth of it. Anyone who claims the story is boring and depressing obviously chose not to look beyond the surface of the story. The author's style and irony keeps the reader interested throughout. Yes, the author seems a bit twisted, but it makes it all the better to read. I would definately recommend it to anyone looking for a story to make you think.

Anonymous
(09/08/04)

The book was not good at all. I don't know how anyone could like it

Lisa(09/06/04)

From every angle, I hear about this book as a brilliant work which makes you experience a wide variety of emotions at the same time. I confess, the only emotions I experienced while reading this book were...well...disgust and boredom. Perhaps I simply didn't understand the deep subliminal messages of this book, but all I saw was a long and largely imagined tale of two males, one of whom swore too much. Although the brotherly/fatherly interactions between Toph and the author were touching, they were in no way different from the average coming of age/orphan tragedy memoir. Indeed, the only thing that made this book unique was the author's random analyses of his own book and life. Other than that, it was unremarkable and certainly not worth the time or effort of reading...

Royal J. Cumings(08/04/04)

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius is indeed a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Many of this generation who were forced to grow up too quickly will find Mr. Eggers' stew of prose to be a kindred to their own. This is one of the best and most original books I've read.

Marcie Osborne(07/21/04)

Sweet, laugh out loud sort of book. There is humour in everything and its fun to ride along on the thought process and decision making of the main character. Sometimes he makes you feel like a hypocrit (sp?) and points out the should-be -obvious, which isn't really obvious at all until he tells you. You'll catch yourself going "hmmm weird" alot.

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